Wearables

Fitbit has officially revealed the new Charge 4 fitness band, and as expected it's a case of new tech hiding inside a familiar wearable. While it may look like the old Charge, the new version adds onboard GPS along with other sensors, and introduces an Active Zone Minutes feature that promises to better track your health.

For all the Apple Watch's popularity, the company hasn't made any effort to appeal to a wider audience, specifically kids. That doesn't stop the young ones from wanting an Apple Watch, of course, but the systems Apple has built up around the wearable aren't exactly conducive to that use case. That may finally be changing when iOS 14 comes around along with a watchOS 7 with a few new features designed to address exactly that.

Facebook has locked up an exclusive supply of smart glasses displays, inking a deal with a microLED specialist that could one day put digital lenses in wearable computers. The agreement with UK display-maker Plessey boxes out rivals like Apple, Google, and others from an augmented reality display-maker, a move that could be pivotal when AR wearables become market-ready in the coming years.

It has been months since Google bought Fitbit and fans from both sides of the have hoped that the union would bear fruit sooner rather than later. Some expected that Google would integrate more health features into Wear OS or even release its own fitness trackers. Others have hoped Fitbit would also get more smart features and maybe even have a Wear OS smartwatch. Neither of those happened and, instead, we're getting a new Fitbit Charge 4 that adds just one new feature to the mix.

There's a new variety of Apple Watch bands out in the world today, coming to Apple Stores at a cost anywhere between $49 and $439 USD. The least of these is the Sport Band from Apple, coming in a new set of colors like Surf Blue and Cactus. Ramp up to the most expensive models and you're working with Hermes, a brand that employs calfskin leather and charges up to $439 for their newest straps.

The Apple Watch continues to dominate the rather small smart wearable market but that hasn't stopped dozens of companies from putting out their own. Of those, however, few have wandered away from Google's Wear OS platform. Aside from Samsung, Huawei is the only other major consumer electronics manufacturer that has struck out on its own with some amount of success. Most of that has been due to the Huawei Watch GT's battery life, a trait that an upcoming Huawei Watch GT 2e will apparently continue based on new leaks.

Smart glasses company North's second-generation Focals 2.0 will have a camera, it's been confirmed, as details about the new digital eyewear trickle out ahead of their full release. Announced late in 2019, Focals 2.0 promise to be smaller, lighter, and more practical than the first-generation smart glasses, but the addition of a camera could be the most controversial element.

TAG Heuer has revealed its latest smartwatch, the third-generation of its Wear OS wearables, with the new TAG Heuer Connected focusing on sports in return for its premium price tag. Following the Connected Modular Golf Edition of last year, the new Connected watch looks like a 45mm traditional TAG from the outside, but behind the OLED touchscreen there's a new set of sensors.

The Apple Watch is arguably the most popular smartwatch in the market but that has mostly been due to its health features. Support from third-party app makers is definitely high but first-party Apple features may not always appeal even to Apple Watch fans. Partly personal and partly technical, watchOS faces, the home screens that greet users all the time, have been particularly divisive but it seems that watchOS version 7 will bring quite a few changes that could win the wearable platform more fans.

Bridging the physical and digital worlds has always been a dream for many tech companies, especially when it can create new experiences that, in turn, generate sales or customer engagement. That dream is even bigger for games that want to extend their reach beyond computers and phones. adidas, Google, and EA Sports may have just made that dream come true in an odd yet ingenious way that involves putting a small tracker inside your adidas shoes.

A new leak reveals multiple features that will reportedly be available on the Apple Watch Series 6 wearable. The alleged features were uncovered from iOS 14 code, the leak claims, hinting at new capabilities that, in some cases, mirror recent leaks from other sources. Assuming Apple does make these features available in the upcoming Apple Watch, consumers can expect sleep tracking, a Kids Mode, and more.

Although at times criticized for its aged design, which ironically is becoming the fad again, few will deny how the Apple Watch has been blazing a trail when it comes to turning wearables into miniature health labs on your wrist. The life-saving anecdotes that surround Apple's smartwatch have become more or less legend and the company is showing no signs of stopping now. Details on how it will do so are still unclear but the next big feature to come to the Apple Watch might be a pulse oximeter.